Allisha Gray, Tiffany Mitchell and A’ja Wilson, a former South Carolina women’s basketball student, are among the 19 athletes who will participate in the US Women’s National Team mini-field from February 4-7 at the University of South Carolina Gamecock trainer Dawn Staley, who is also the current national team coach, will lead the four-day mini-field.
“We have been together for a training camp for a year now and I am excited to be back on the court with the US National Team,” said Staley. “We have a great mix of veteran leadership and younger players, many of whom know how I manage training, and I predict that we will have four extremely competitive training days here in South Carolina. We are missing some pieces of the puzzle, we have 36 players in our pool, but it will be extremely helpful in our preparations for the Tokyo Olympics this summer. “
“USA Basketball worked closely with health experts and the University of South Carolina to develop a safe, secure and controlled environment for this training ground,” said Jim Tooley, CEO of USA Basketball. “We are excited about the opportunity to continue our US National Team preparations for the Olympics and are confident that we have a solid plan in place that will help protect the health and safety of all athletes, coaches and staff.”
USC Athletics Communications and Public Relations
The US team will train every day starting at 10am EST. However, due to the precautions of COVID-19, no media or guests will be allowed to view the practices. USA Basketball will provide media with images and b-roll for non-commercial editorial use daily. In addition, selected athletes participating in the training camp in the USA will be available via videoconference every day to assist the media in covering the mini-field. The videoconference schedule will be finalized before the camp.
Comprehensive COVID-19 protocols will be used, including regular and mandatory COVID-19 PCR tests administered to participating athletes, coaches, officials and officials in accordance with Fiba and US basketball recommendations and CDC guidelines.
Watching Staley on the sideline this summer in Tokyo and in the minicamp will be WNBA coaches Dan Hughes (Seattle Storm) and Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx). George Washington University principal coach Jennifer Rizzotti, who is also a technical assistant to the national team, is unable to attend the February mini-field due to commitments to her university team.
South Carolina assistant coach Lisa Boyer and Dallas Wings head coach Vickie Johnson will serve as coaches on the court during the four-day camp.
Prior to the postponement of the 2020 Olympics, the 2019-20 USA Team had a combined record of 17-1, which includes a 3-0 mark in Serbia at the 2020 Fiba Olympic Qualification Tournament, a 3- record 0 at Fiba 2019 Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Argentina, a 5-1 list in exhibition games in 2019 and 2020 against university teams and a 6-0 mark and gold medal at the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico .
After the postponement of last summer, the 2020 Olympics, which will see 12 women’s basketball teams fighting for gold, will be held from July 23 to August. 8, 2021. American women, who have an Olympic record of 66-3 at all times, have won the last six Olympic gold medals and are currently winning a streak of 49 consecutive games dating back to the 1992 bronze medal game .